I attended a media trip for Strange Magic, all opinions are my own.
It seems as though art really does imitate life, Elijah Kelley who plays Sunny in the newest Lucasfilm animation Strange Magic coming out in theaters nationwide January 23rd, 2015 has a real life sunny disposition just like the songbird elf character he plays in the film. Executive produced by George Lucas, Strange Magic is a musical fantasy fairy tale about love, heartbreak and friendship. Inspired by popular music of the last 6 decades, George Lucas and a talented team of filmmakers set out to create a love story with a colorful cast of characters as they endure adventures to secure a powerful love potion. In an exclusive Strange Magic interview with George Lucas last week, he noted that it takes twice as many actors to create an animated film as it does a live action film. He went on to say however that only actors can give a story feeling and emotion and Elijah Kelley gives a performance from his soul.
Dawn is serenaded by Sunny with “3 little birds”Born in Georgia in 1986, Elijah Kelley is a definitive “triple threat” in Hollywood with the ability to sing, dance and act. Well known for his roles in “Hairspray” and “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”, Elijah Kelley is a cheery ball of energy that is incredibly down-to-earth. Elijah Kelley is also a fierce philanthropist with his own Elijah Kelley Foundation that is a liaison between underprivileged kids back from Georgia and their dreams in arts and entertainment. The Foundations has given out 4 scholarships over the last 5 years with students from low-income housing that are going on to pursue careers in performing arts.
I was most impressed with Elijah Kelley’s warm personality, he greeted our group of 25 top parenting bloggers from around the country with a warm hug (you betcha I ran up to him to get one). From start to finish Elijah was nothing but friendly, happy and outgoing. After screening Strange Magic at the Skywalker Ranch screening room, Elijah Kelley performed “3 little birds” for the audience with the star power of a super star. We got up on our feet and danced and sang along as Elijah belted out his heart to Bob Marley original. Then he promptly sat down and dished all about Strange Magic in an exclusive interview.
Sunny is an elf with a big heart and a big crush on his best friend Dawn in Strange Magic. Full of spunk with energy to spare, the unstoppable Sunny driven by his love for Dawn goes on an adventure to the Dark Forrest to obtain the imprisoned Sugar Plum Fairy’s potent love potion to get Dawn to fall in love with him. During the exclusive Elijah Kelley interview, Elijah was asked what other characteristics he found similar to his character and he responded with this:
“Sunny doesn’t quit. I’ll tell you a, a bit of personal information. Over the Christmas holidays, both my laptops were stolen; hard drives were stolen and I had to do these police reports and literally everything that I have worked on in 2014 had seemingly vanished. And I had to sit down; I still myself and this is a quality about him (Sunny). Once you understand that there’s a task at hand, you can’t stop until that task is finished. So throughout adversity, throughout trial, you have to keep going, and I think that’s something that Sunny carries.”
Strange Magic is a family friendly, entertaining must see. It’ll have the whole family dancing in their seats! Strange Magic opens in theaters nationwide January 23rd 2015!
